Over the last couple of decades, the number of Americans reading for pleasure has been steadily dropping, with one large study finding that only 16% of people read for pleasure. Trends elsewhere are similarly in decline; in the U.K., the percentage of people who read regularly dropped 8% over the last decade or so. This might seem like an unimportant, if slightly depressing, side effect of people’s attention being fixed on screens.
But a new review published in Psychological Medicine suggests that reading for pleasure—sitting down and focusing on a book you actually look forward to cracking open—can have significant impacts on your brain and wellbeing. Reading has an effect from a very young age, says Barbara Sahakian, an emeritus professor of clinical neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. and an author of the new paper. In one study of about 10,000 children in the U.S., she and her colleagues found that kids who started to read for pleasure early in life were better adjusted later, regardless of their socioeconomic background.
They also spent less time on screens, slept longer, and performed better in school. But reading for pleasure shouldn’t stop in childhood. Studies of adult reading habits show benefits as well.
In the review, the authors note that readers often mention in surveys that they feel less lonely after they read. It made me understand other people's point of view better, and gave me more empathy.’ That comes up a lot in surveys,” Sahakian says. There are neuroimaging studies to back up that finding, she continues.
Surveys indicate a link to stress reduction as well. You don't start ruminating about problems that you have…you forget all of that. So it's a little bit like mindfulness in that regard, because the attention is so focused.” Some of the research Sahakian finds most exciting focuses on older people’s reading habits.
She refers to one study in Taiwan that followed people over age 64 for 14 years. It will improve your brain. It will improve your cognition.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
